In this episode we talk about how to overcome creative block. If you’ve ever been stuck in a design rut, you know how frustrating this can be! We discuss how it’s something every designer goes through, and look at some effective ways to get your inspiration back.
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Meet Your Hosts
The Honest Designers Show started when our founder Tom found he was regularly chatting and sharing tips with top designers; Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. We soon organised a weekly call where we would help each other with areas we were struggling with and try to give each other actionable feedback. Soon we realised that the collective experience of the group was proving so valuable for each of us, that we thought ‘why not share these conversations with the world?’.
And so, The Honest Designers Show was born! This podcast is an insight into how to succeed in the creative industry, as well as giving you a totally transparent, under the hood look at some of the tougher, less glamorous hurdles to overcome! We also tend to get a little goofy along the way, so this is a chance to get to know each of us a little better :). We’ve loved recording this show for you, and we hope that you find value and enjoyment in listening to it.
SHOW NOTES
Please find full show notes for this episode below:
[1.00] Creative block is the worst thing for designers!
[1.45] What Ian does to overcome creative block (it starts with food!)
[2.30] Learning a new skill can be really effective
[3.20] With creative block it can be like hitting a wall you can’t get past
[4.20] Ian finds inspiration in the last minute
[5.00] Every designer in the world goes through this
[5.30] Lisa goes further down the hole of creative block, and forgets to step back
[6.10] Coming back to a piece and seeing it in a new positive light
[6.45] Our brains trick us
[7.15] Negative stuff in our day can mount up and cause creative block
[8.00] Avoiding negativity at the start of your day, to hit the ground running
[9.00] Being aware of what causes each of your mental states
[10.20] Lisa’s routine for setting herself up to create
[11.40] Going down the rabbit-hole of negativity
[12.20] Comparing yourself to others can kill your creativity
[13.15] The response to seeing other people’s work that is ‘better’ than yours
[14.30] Lisa puts a time limit on looking at other’s work
[15.30] Ian feeling discouraging by other people’s work
[17.00] Adjusting your work around your mindset (get something done, despite a creative block)
[18.00] The need for originality causing the block
[19.25] David Bowie’s approach for writing lyrics
[20.00] Getting away from your desk
[20.30] Dustin gets angry! (you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry!)
[21.00] Lisa also feels infuriated in this state
[21.50] Lisa’s epic humble brag
[23.20] Often you can compete against your own best work
[24.30] Ian’s example of a post gone viral, and feeling like he can’t top this
[27.45] It’s messed up that even our successes can feel like a hurdle to overcome
[28.50] Try living in the moment when you’re feeling inspired
[31.30] Closing tips/thoughts
How you can help
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Let Us Know What You Think
We would absolutely love to know how you enjoyed this episode. We’ll be releasing a new episode each Wednesday, and look forward to hopefully answering many of your questions on the show.
I suck at being consistent. Some days I post 10 times and sometimes won’t post for days inbetween. On facebook I use the post scheduler a lot. Religiously. lol. I found an app that will post to your insta 30 times a month for free. You schedule the posts and it sends you a reminder to post the image. You can spend your inspired days scheduling posts and then relax as they remind you to post them (I wish they posted them without me, but this is fine). The app is LATER. They post to pinterest and other sites too. And each account gets 30 free posts each. There’s a paid version with more posts, but right now, I just need the once a day. :)
Hey Lindsay,
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave us a comment!
This is an awesome idea and the app sounds super helpful! I know exactly what you mean, some weeks I find loads of inspiration and others, its as though I don’t have any social media accounts at all, but with something like this, there’s no need to worry as you can plan it all. I love it and we super appreciate you spreading the word about this :)
Hi, I’ve been listening the this episode (11: Overcoming Creative Block) and found it massively helpful listening to each of your perspectives and the tools you’ve found useful. This is something I’m struggling with constantly in my personal art and design work and your advice is really useful. The show notes were also an added bonus to find so thanks so much for it all – great work!
Hey Jenn,
Thanks so much for listening to this episode!
We are so glad that you’ve enjoyed it. I think everyone has suffered with it at one stage or another so we were just excited to share some deferent points of view on this with you :)
Hi, I just listened to “Overcoming Creative Block.” It was funny and insightful. I’ll have to go back and take notes :)
Hey Jose,
Thanks so much for tuning in!
that’s great news, we’re so glad you like it :D